Fox News’ Shepard Smith defended the media and said “journalists are not enemies of the people,” comments that come after the White House barred a CNN reporter from attending an open press event on Wednesday.
“For those of you at home, if I may, journalists are not the enemies of the people. It’s quite the opposite,” Smith said Thursday afternoon. “Our profession is enshrined in the Constitution and the fourth estate holds the essential job of being your eyes and often ears and, when appropriate, your voice. It’s a cornerstone of our republic.”
“Over 22 years at this network, it’s been my experience that the journalists of Fox News and Fox Business and those of our colleagues at competitors at CNN and MSNBC, NBC, ABC and CBS, Bloomberg and PBS, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, The New York Times, The Washington Post — all of them operate in the public interest,” he added.
On Wednesday, the White House notified CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that she would no longer be permitted to attend an open press event in the Rose Garden on Wednesday afternoon with President Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
Collins said the White House’s reason was that her questions for Trump earlier in the day were “inappropriate.”
“They said, ‘You are dis-invited from the press availability in the Rose Garden today,'” Collins told CNN. “They said that the questions I asked were inappropriate for that venue. And they said I was shouting.”
“You’re banning me from an event because you didn’t like the questions I asked,” Collins said she responded.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders defended the decision later Wednesday evening.
“At the conclusion of a press event in the Oval Office a reporter shouted questions and refused to leave despite repeatedly being asked to do so. Subsequently, our staff informed her she was not welcome to participate in the next event, but made clear that any other journalist from her network could attend,” Sanders said in a statement.
“She said it didn’t matter to her because she hadn’t planned to be there anyway. To be clear, we support a free press and ask that everyone be respectful of the presidency and guests at the White House,” the statement continued.
Trump has routinely railed against media outlets, and has labeled CNN and other outlets “fake news.”
[Also read: Trump orders Fox News to be the only network playing on Air Force One]
